By Gina Van Luven, owner of Prime IV Hydration & Wellness at Red Mountain Gateway in Mesa
Over the years, I have heard many people come home from vacation and complain about how much weight they gained or how terrible they feel. Vacation seems to be synonymous with poor eating habits, with convenience and cost being the primary culprits.
Despite the challenges, there are typically healthier options available, even with fast food. You can also pack healthy snacks to take with you or shop locally and make food from your home away from home. You can save a lot of money by dining in versus out. Regardless of your choice, here are five tips to help you eat healthy on vacation:
1. Don’t wait until you’re starving to eat. Doing so will likely cause you to make poor choices.
Instead, have some healthy snacks at hand to munch on in-between meals. Nuts and seeds, baby carrots or snap peas with hummus, apples with nut butter, or low-sugar protein bars are great choices.
2. Avoid fried foods, which contain excess unhealthy calories.
Instead, choose grilled, baked, roasted or sautéed foods.
3. Save the carbs for last.
Instead, eat your veggies and protein first, which will likely fill you up, making little to no room for carbohydrates, which are generally on overload during vacations.
4. Try not to overeat.
Instead, ask for a to-go box with your order if you see that portions are larger that what you should be eating at one sitting. Portion out what you can eat and put the remainder in the box. Better yet, split the meal with someone.
5. Curb the soda and/or alcohol intake, both of which are dehydrating and largely nonnutritive.
Instead, drink half your body weight in ounces of pH-balanced water daily, which will help keep you feeling satiated and provide hydrating minerals.
Having traveled all over the world myself, I understand eating healthy can be challenging, and you may not get all of the nutrients you need while on vacation. You can counteract this by getting IV nutrition prior to or after your trip. The delivery of nutrients via IV (intraveous) bypasses digestion and allows for 100% of the nutrients to be delivered to your bloodstream. This is also a great way to give your immune system a boost and recover from jet lag if flying.
Make transitioning back to normal life after vacation a little easier by giving your body what it needs to be healthy and happy.
